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Mars Swings Unusually Close to Earth
amazon10x writes "Mars will come unusually close to the Earth on Saturday; the second time in 60,000 years. The last occurrence was in 2003. 'This is the best we're going to see Mars, so we should strike the iron while it is hot,' said Kelly Beatty, executive editor of Sky & Telescope magazine. The Red Planet will be 43.1 million miles from Earth at 11:25pm [Eastern time]." Update by J : Starting a few hours after sunset, look fairly high in the eastern sky.
Well what time zone? 11:25pm here could be 6:25am somewhere else. Bad slashdot!
Second time in 60,000 years that we know of? If the last time it happened was in 2003, and this is only 2 years later, and the next time is "scheduled to be in 2018 (FTFA)", is it possible we just didn't have the technology to detect it back then?
How about twice in 2 years, while having not occurred until 60,000 years before that?
...and they want their geocentric theory back...
From TFA: The two planets -- normally separated by about 140 million miles -- will not be this close again until 2018.
Normally separated by 140 million miles? On average, Earth orbits at 93m miles, Mars at 140m miles, both roughly on the same plane. That means the distance will vary periodically from around 230m miles to 47m miles. This current phenomenon is a "minimum minimum" which is why it is notable.
It sounds like CNN looked up the orbital distance from Mars and assumed that it orbits the Earth...
Ydco co
*Doesn't something like this happen every year these days?*
If by "every year" you mean "Every other year," and by "every other year" you mean "2003" then yes, it happens every year. Note, please, that every other year (give or take) Mars gets closer to us, then further, then closer, so there are times where it will be closer than others. This one (and the one in 2003) are just extra-close.
*So it came unusually close in 2003... and now again in 2005... and they're expecting it again in 2018?*
They're not "expecting" it so much as "knowing" it, but yes, Mars gets closest to us every couple years, and sometimes it's closer than others, so it will be in 2018 as well (I assume, I haven't actually researched 2018 in particular). It won't be as close as it is this year, or in 2003, which made these two so special.
*And so it's happening 3 times in 15 years... but we're going to blow that up to say "3 times in 60,000 years!!!"*
We're not blowing up anything. 60,000 years ago (or so) Mars was as close to the Earth as it will be this week. Between 60,000 years ago and now, it's only happened once, in 2003, and it will happen again in a couple days.
*Honestly... the New Orleans Saints win playoff games more rarely than this occurs.*
To put this in terms you'll understand, think of it this way. The NOS win a game, after losing, say, 5 in a row. The announcer says "This is their first win in 6 games." Are you going to complain and say "No it's not, it's their first win in ONE GAME!"?
*Other than it's significance to NASA's mars mission and palmists, all this means to john-everyman is that the red dot in the sky is a little brighter.*
Which is why we're having this discussion on a geek website. It's NEWS.
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This makes virtually no difference to the effort required to transfer an object to Mars from Earth. The orbit would be an elliptical transfer orbit (the most efficient), and is far more dependent on the position of Mars relative to Earth (hence "launch windows" for probes).
The 7ish million miles will make naff all difference - the point is actually when someone will stump up the cash, and when we figure out how to have an effective life support system (food, water, oxygen, shielding against radiation, etc, etc). The furthest humans have gone is ~250,000 miles - 43 and more million miles is, ahem, miles further.
but what about getting them back?
Who says it has to be a return mission? Come on, don't you think there would be plenty of qualified volunteers for a one way mission? This is why I think China will be space pioneers (well, 2nd generation pioneers) - because they will be able to launch one way missions without too many naysayers complaining about it.